Grow UR Biz – to what Degree

I was cruising to my grandson’s LaCrosse game and listening to talk radio. The show was hosted by a financial consultant and he was talking about young people who graduate from prestigious schools with prestigious degrees and have no plan and no job. He then quoted research that stated that only 2% of MBA graduates have a plan for the future. That is a staggering statistic. I find that more often than not when I work with organizations, no plan is in place.

Do you have a plan for your business? Do you take time to plan? If you have a plan, do you have a plan to implement that plan? Or, are you just wishing and hoping?

When I begin to coach a new client, I ask where do you want to be in 3, 6 and 12 months. Many times they never thought to plan even in a short term.

Here are my 7 easy steps to begin a business plan:

Ask yourself where you want to be in 3-6-12 and 24 months (goals)

Write an executive summary (describe you biz, who are you and what do you do)

Think about your position in the community (Position yourself for a share of the market)

Design an outline with benchmarks (a sliding scale of accomplishments)

Look at the strengths and weaknesses of your competition (build on that)

Describe Inside Operations – how will your company function day to day

Design a budget including income and expenses

I like to use the word “action plan” instead of plan. Put this document into action, make it a living document, visit it once a month, change your course when things go wrong (and they will)

To degree or not to degree is not the question, with or without the degree, without a plan you have no idea where you are going! Think about his, “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.” Henry David Thoreau,“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.” ― Peter F. Drucker

Carol serves as a featured writer for the Home News and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Blog.

Excuses, excuses, excuses, do they make the world go ‘round? When I talk to small business owners, excuses for not growing your business are plentiful. I don’t have time to attend a seminar, that’s vacation season I can’t go to a networking event, I can’t join a Master Mind group it’s during my busy time, my business will fall apart if I’m not there. But, the most frequent statement I hear is business is slow so I cannot leave. Well, if business is slow the good news is you may recognize it, the bad news is you may not be taking the LEAP to change that today.

Remember the game Leap Frog, a children’s game in which players vault over each other’s stooped backs? Games of this sort have been called by this name since at least the late sixteenth century. They also played this in colonial America.

The first participant rests hands on knees and bends over, which is called giving a back. The next player places hands on the first’s back and leaps over by straddling legs wide apart on each side. On landing he stoops down and a third leaps over the first and second, and the fourth over all others successively. When all the players are stooping, the last in the line begins leaping over all the others in turn. Anyone could play and we had a lot of fun taking the LEAP to further yourself in the game. I’m not sure what the purpose was of the game, but we were competitive trying to jump higher and further than any of our friends.

How are you doing in the game of “LEAP frog?” Are you ‘leaping’ into solid and extraordinary cash flow? Or, do you have excuses, excuses, excuses. If you want to increase cash flow, grow your business and take your biz to a new level, you may want to consider LEAP Frog.

First, LEAP into the “NO WHINING” zone

Second, LEAP into the learn everything you can about how to grow ur biz

Third, LEAP into training, seminars, reading, and coaching

If you don’t take the initiative to LEAP forward in the 21st century, you may be left behind in the pond with all the other frogs.

Carol serves as a featured writer for the Home News and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Blog.

Carol is an accomplished professional speaker, coach and educational consultant specializing in innovative leadership, outrageous fundraising, million dollar marketing, and building organizational alliances throughout the country. Carol’s creative leadership with bullet proof ideas for recruiting MORE MEMBERS, MORE MONEY AND TER LEADERS. www.caroltalks.com